Affinity chromatography utilizes a column charged with a ligand-bound carrier (i.e., an insoluble carrier on which a substance (ligand) that specifically binds to the separation/purification target substance is immobilized). For example, affinity chromatography has been used to separate and purify biological substances such as proteins and nucleic acids (see JP-A-6-281638).
Crosslinked particles of sugar chains such as agarose gel have been widely used as the affinity chromatography packing material. However, such particles may be deformed and increase the column pressure when a solution containing the separation/purification target molecules is passed through the column at a high flow rate, so that the separation/purification efficiency may deteriorate.
An affinity chromatography packing material “POROS” (manufactured by Applied Biosystems) can be used at a relatively high flow rate. This packing material includes mother particles that contain a hydrophobic styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer as the main component. When using this packing material, non-specific adsorption that is considered to be mainly caused by the mother particles may occur. Moreover, the binding capacity may decrease when the packing material is used at a high flow rate.